4/20/17
by News Department on 04/20/17Overcrowding at County Prison...
Eyewitness News Reporter Hailey Bianco has the story...
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POTTSVILLE, SCHUYLKILL COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) -- Some prisons in our area are overwhelmed with inmates. Those prisons are turning to other counties for help housing prisoners. In this Eyewitness News follow up, reporter Haley Bianco explains how one county is keeping its population down.
"It's a major challenge," said prison board chairman George Halcovage Jr.
Schuylkill County Prison Board Chairman George Halcovage says they're looking everyday for new ways to keep its prison population under it's maximum capacity limit. When the prison reached more than 300 inmates, the state stepped in -- declaring that the prison could house no more than 277.
So the prison had to find alternatives.
"We have to find room," said Halcovage.
They've managed to do that by signing contracts with six other county prisons in the state.... the newest addition, Lackawanna County Prison.
It costs between 50 and 70 dollars a day to house inmates at other prisons. Right now, there's about 70 prisoners housed elsewhere. That's a hefty bill of 42-hundred dollars -- a day.
The county doesn't want to be paying that bill forever. So local leaders are lining up new ways to keep the prison count low.
Some options they've already implemented --- diverting drug cases to an out-patient treatment drug court..
Since lowering the inmate count at the prison, people who work there say they've seen the benefits.
"We felt that impact of reducing our population, with the inmates and their behavior and also the staff," said Gene Berdanier, Schuylkill County Prison warden.
He says keeping the inmate count at a manageable number makes it easier to classify the prisoners -- and help those who want to be helped. Another avenue they're approaching -- an intermediate punishment center -- with a goal of preparing inmates with the skills needed to successfully re-enter the community.
"Almost every inmate in our county facility will be released back into the community at some point so we're trying to improve the inmates while they're incarcerated so we're exploring programming at all times," said Berdanier.
By outsourcing prisoners, the sheriff's department is also having to cover the costs of transporting those prisoners. Prison board members hope once the intermediate punishment center opens, the need to outsource inmates will be eliminated.
As of today, five companies have expressed an interest to the prison board about working with them to open the center.
